India hockey coach eyes top-six finish at Olympics

India hockey coach eyes top-six finish at Olympics

Having "fed the 5,000" and fulfilled his duty of leading the India hockey team to Olympic qualification, Australian coach Michael Nobbs has set the target of a top-six finish in London.

The former hockey powerhouse won the last of their eight gold medals in 1980 but their gradual decline reached its lowest ebb in 2008 when the team failed to qualify for the Beijing, the first time India missed a Games in 80 years.

So it was a huge relief for the nation when the team won a qualifying tournament in Delhi in February to seal a London berth.

"I was very relieved. I was quite apprehensive. I knew how Indian hockey had probably declined in the last number of years," Nobbs, who took on the job in July 2011, said.

"They were just not going anywhere because they were sitting 10th in the world.

"And then everyone came up to me and said 'you realise you have to qualify?'

"At least 5,000 have told me and I was waiting for the rest of the nation to walk up to me and tell me. It was very stressful."